Stoga Party: Moms Get High With A Little Help From Their Friends

Every Monday night, I get together with my girlfriends – all moms with demanding careers – and get stoned. Then we do yoga. That’s right, stoned yoga. Or stoga, as we call it. It happened quite by accident, really. The initial premise was sunset yoga – outdoor yoga in a friend’s backyard – which sounded very earthy and cool despite the fact that I hate yoga (it’s the whole forced relaxation aspect that throws me off). And so I signed on.

The yoga itself was pretty good – I mastered downward dog and learned to breathe – but the best part was the post-yoga hang, replete with barbecue chips and red wine and hilarious banter about husbands, kids, life. Inevitably, we’d smoke a joint. More food. More laughter.

Pretty soon we were getting high pre-yoga (why wait?). And so began stoga: a weekly ritual of high achievers (and former stoners) sparking up a doobie just in time for shavasana. Four years in, I am addicted to Monday nights. It’s not about the yoga, or even the getting high, but more the therapeutic effects of taking time out from my busy life and hanging out with friends, old-school. And there’s nothing obligatory about it. Unlike three-times-a-week cardio or even, say, self-imposed ‘date nights,’ there’s zero guilt if I flake out on stoges (which I never do, excluding the lonely few months after kid number two was born).

Our fearless organizer, Sasha – she’s the one who came up with the idea in the first place – has been practicing yoga for 15 years. But the Monday-night routine has given a whole new meaning to her practice:

“Yoga is an individual journey. With stoga, there’s a deeper level of bonding… It’s become a group journey. And you also get a night of partying with the girls!”

Like many moms out there, I sometimes get nostalgic for my former life. Sure, I feel blessed to have two healthy, vibrant children, but somewhere along the way I’ve lost my identity. And so a simple act like smoking a joint, followed by 60 minutes of relative silence, brings me back to a simpler, more carefree time when I could eat cereal for dinner and watch trashy TV in real time (never mind spur-of-the-moment road trips or all-night benders).

And, sometimes (most times), a glass of wine after a busy day just doesn’t do the trick. Stoga does. It’s the working mom’s best-kept secret.

I find this article to be inspiring. If getting high was once your thing, it’s nice to see these moms can still embrace their old inner teenager self, while still being responsible with their children.
We all deserve to let loose once in a while, this sounds like a great way to do it.

I am completely un-against people getting together and smoking a joint. even better if you mix it with yoga. BUT i have a few questions for you. do you drive home after these nights? driving while stoned is really dangerous and also a crime. did you do this while pregnant with your kid? wow. do you wonder if maybe you’re being a bit selfish by doing these things and not thinking about how it will affect the loved ones in your lives?
k thanks just wondering

Keya

@ Ella- driving after smoking a joint is not really dangerous. It actually hightens your senses and makes you more aware. I have never heard of anyone dying from “stoned driving” & I HIGHLY doubt she did it while she was pregnant. Smoking weed does not alter your judgment nor make you try harder drugs. thats the only “drug” considered harmless by majority of the medical world. it does more good than harm. which cant be said for alcohol. I think this idea is great!!

Zzero

where’s the like button

Graz

The only problem with this is that they’re not doing it more nights per week. And in reply to Ella’s post up there — she is the perfect example of the non-individual, absorbing only rhetoric. Bash weed all you want, but don’t include the fact that it’s illegal. People don’t care about laws until they’re caught breaking them. Ella, on the other hand, wouldn’t run a stop sign even if she was given written proof by the President that no cops would arrest her.

Zzero

driving around after smoking a joint isnt a big deal…it doesnt get u as high as alcohol (and alcohol is the killer) not Pot..

“did you do this while pregnant with your kid?” i dont know about the effects of marijuana on a pregnant woman..guess we’d better google that

This is one of the best ideas I’ve heard yet! In fact, it gave me even a better idea of something to do on my own. I’m going to start a new blog at http://www.stogamoms.com. Make sure to visit soon and very often. Share your experiences as stoga moms to this new, hype and new age way of doing yoga.

~Namaste~

Lola

I wish I could get stoned with getting completely freaked out and paranoid. Doesn’t agree with me for some reason but I envy those who can feel relaxed and silly while high.

Zzero

envy me :)… when u freak out /get paranoid after u’r high its coz u dun have good company .all it does is relax your nerves sadly it does get you lazy, so what? do it when u have the time for it.Marijuana’s good for creative people

Lola

Oops, should have said “without” not “with.”

Voice of Reason

@Keya: Rationalizations are not just what other people do. If you want to get high, fire it up. But don’t make the “I’m totally a better driver when high” argument, when the research indicates that pot adversely affects cognition, reaction time, and physical ability. That does not make you a better driver. You remind me of those frat boys arguing that they totally drive safer when drunk ’cause they’re more careful. Don’t get high and get behind the wheel. It’s just a bad decision. I hate to kill your buzz, but reality does that sometimes.

Man, shavasana is about all I can do if I partake, tree pose, forget it! I wouldn’t advise doing yoga stoned if you actually want to make progress with your practice. My internal dialogue went something like this the one time I tried yoga while high “damn, how long is this class? I’m hungry…damn cottonmouth I need some water….wow this room is hot, I think I’m gonna have a heart attack, can everyone tell I’m moving slowly? Oh shit the instructor totally knows…..hmm…just go with it…tree pose, how foot up, oh no i’m wobbling, shit I never wobble, WTF? I’m tired, is it relaxation time yet? Twists? Oh no, will everyone thing I’m high if I just give up and lay down now? mmm…I’m going to get a taco when I get out of here….”